Winterport voters to fill local offices, OK budget for town, school operations

WINTERPORT, Maine — Residents will elect town and school officials and consider validating the RSU 22 school budget during local elections on June 10. The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Samuel Wagner Middle School.

Town Councilors Dallas Harriman and Ann Ronco are seeking re-election to their three-year seats, and Philip Foley and Corey Ginn also are running.

Meanwhile, Susan Rioux is unopposed for re-election to her three-year post as an assessor. Also unopposed is John Coggeshall, who is seeking another three years as a member of the RSU 22 board of directors.

During the annual town meeting at 7:30 p.m. on June 12 at the middle school, residents will consider a $4.5 million budget for municipal and school operations in 2014-15, Town Manager Phil Pitula said Friday.

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Pitula said the town officials had developed a $4,536,060 spending plan for the coming fiscal year but that the budget increased to $4,573,320 as a result of Thursday night’s vote to add $150,000 to the RSU 22 school budget so that middle school foreign language instruction could be restored.

Winterport’s share of the additional funding is $37,260, he said. Before that occurred, the town budget was slated to go down by $18,727, he said.

Despite the budget increase, Pitula said he expected the town’s property tax rate to stay at the current level, which is $13.25 per $1,000 in property valuation.